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Shelley Pasnik is the Director of the Center for Children and Technology and a vice president of the Education Development Center. Her research is devoted to understanding how cultural institutions—especially public media, private foundations, and corporate philanthropies—can use emerging technologies to support teaching and learning. She has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Intel Foundation, the American Museum of Natural History, WGBH, Carnegie Hall, Thirteen/WNET, Global Kids, and IBM, among others. She serves as the Principal Investigator for the summative evaluation of the Ready to Learn Initiative, a federal research and development program that uses transmedia to improve the math and literacy skills of children ages 2–8, especially those living in poverty.

In addition to research and evaluation, Ms. Pasnik has helped shape national policy, developed public education campaigns, and guided the production of children's educational services, both in the United States and abroad. She served for a decade on the board of the Global Action Project, and currently sits on the Apple ConnectEd Advisory Board and the board of Games for Change. Ms. Pasnik has written extensively for a range of organizations and companies, including PBS, for which she created the Parent's Guide to Children and Media. She also speaks frequently to national and local journalists, but hasn't given up the habit of poking fun at the news media coverage—especially of her own performance—that follows.